The present invention relates to devices used to accommodate wiring within articles of furniture, and, in particular, to a grommet assembly installable in a hole in a horizontal surface of a furniture article and adapted for wiring passage.
Articles of furniture used in both the home and office often include a desk, table or credenza equipped with a set of overhead storage compartments or shelves that are conventionally known as a hutch. Especially in office environments where furniture is increasingly modular in design to allow ready reconfiguration depending on needs and available space, hutches are frequently provided as separate units, each of which units can be mounted on top of a horizontal worktop of a selected desk or the like. Specifically, a hutch unit is typically designed with vertical panels that extend down from the ends of the storage compartments and which are fastened to the desk for stability.
Many existing systems to fasten the hutch to the desk suffer from a variety of shortcomings including an unattractive appearance or an unstable mounting. For example, in some prior art furniture, the fastening system uses L-shaped or angled brackets having horizontal and vertical legs, which respectively attach to the desk and to a vertical end panel of the hutch. In some applications, the horizontal bracket leg is attached to the underside of the desktop, and the upstanding bracket leg extends along the edge surface of the desktop and is attached to the outside of the hutch panel. Besides being aesthetically unappealing when the furniture is positioned so that the vertical bracket is visible running up the side of the desktop, this bracket mounting can hamper the process of removing the hutch and installing it on another worktop during furniture reconfiguration. Accessing such a bracket to unfasten it from the desktop may require pulling the desk away from the wall or other article of furniture against which the desk is positioned. In other applications in which the horizontal bracket leg is attached to the top surface of the desktop, normally with the upstanding bracket leg attached to the inside of the hutch panel, removing the bracket during hutch relocation exposes unsightly screw holes in the top surface of the desktop.
In still other furniture, the fastening system uses double-sided tape between the top surface of the desktop and the bottom edges of the hutch vertical panels. However, the stability of such a mounting may be less than optimal for some situations.
Articles of furniture such as desks also are frequently designed to accommodate the multitude of cables or wiring associated with equipment supported on the desktop. Various grommet assemblies have been developed which line a hole formed in the desktop to accommodate cabling extending from devices such as computers, telephones and lighting equipment on the desktop. This cabling extends downward through the desktop to be linked to outlets or ports in the wall behind the desk. However, most furniture with grommet assemblies lacks the ability to readily pass the wires outward through the furniture to adjacent furniture pieces, such as passing wiring for communications and power systems between desks placed end-to-end. In some known designs that handle lateral wire routing, a grommet-lined hole is provided in the side panel of a desk to accommodate wiring from outward of the desk to the space underneath the desk. Another grommet-lined hole through the desktop allows wiring to extend to devices on top of the desk. Such a design, while perhaps functional, may be too expensive for some applications, as additional manufacturing steps may be required to form the holes, and multiple grommet assemblies need to be manufactured and installed in such holes.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an article of furniture with a grommet assembly that overcomes these and other shortcomings of the prior art.
The present invention provides a grommet assembly for an article of furniture, such as a desk or credenza, which allows for an attachment to a hutch while also providing for the passage of wiring through the furniture surface on which the hutch is supported. The grommet assembly is adapted to allow wiring passage not only between the spaces above and below a desktop or the like, but also to a space outward or laterally of the desktop.
In one form thereof, the present invention provides a grommet assembly for a furniture article having a top supported on a base, the top including an upper surface and a lower surface and defining a hole therethrough for wiring to extend between spaces above and below the top. The grommet assembly includes a grommet secured to at least one of the base and the top. The grommet defines a passageway for passage of wiring through the top hole. The grommet assembly includes a lug projecting upwardly from the grommet above the upper surface of the top, which lug is adapted for attachment to a hutch supported on the top.
In another form thereof, the present invention provides a grommet assembly for a furniture article having a top supported on a base, the top including an upper surface, a lower surface and an edge surface, the top further defining a hole extending inwardly from the edge surface and extending vertically through the upper and lower surfaces. The grommet assembly includes a grommet, a removable top cover, and a removable side covers. The grommet is disposed within the hole and secured to at least one of the base and the top.
The grommet defines a plurality of apertures, most preferably including a first aperture, a second aperture and a third aperture. The first aperture opens to the hole through the upper surface, the second aperture opens to the hole through the lower surface, and the third aperture opens to the hole through the edge surface. Each of the plurality of apertures opens into an interior volume of the grommet to communicate with the other of the plurality of apertures for wiring passage.
The removable top cover is mountable to the grommet to cover at least a portion of the hole at the upper surface of the top. The removable side cover is mountable to the grommet to cover at least a portion of the hole at the edge surface of the top. When mounted to the grommet, each of the removable top covers is removable from the grommet without removing the other cover.
In still another form thereof, the present invention contemplate an article of furniture including a support base, a top, a grommet and a lug. The top is supported on the support base and includes an upper surface, a lower surface and an edge surface. The top defines a hole extending inwardly from the edge surface and extending vertically through the upper and lower surfaces. The grommet is within the hole and secured to at least one of the support base and the top. The grommet is structured and arranged to define first and second wiring passageways within the hole. The first wiring passageway is arranged between the upper surface and the lower surface of the top, and the second wiring passageway is arranged between the edge surface of the top and at least one of the upper surface of the top and the lower surface of the top. The first wiring passageway accommodates wiring through the hole between a space above the upper surface and a space below the lower surface, and whereby the second wiring passageway accommodates wiring through the hole between a space outward of the edge surface and at least one of the space above the upper surface and the space below the lower surface. The lug projects upwardly from the grommet above the upper surface of the top and is adapted for attachment to a hutch supported on the top.
One advantage of the present invention is that a grommet assembly for a hole in a top surface of a desk or credenza is provided which is adapted for both wiring passage and mounting of a hutch on the top of such desk or credenza.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a grommet assembly with hutch attachment capabilities is provided that is easy to use, and readily convertible when no hutch is required to be secured.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that a grommet assembly is provided for routing wiring outwardly, such as laterally or rearwardly, through the edge surface of a worktop, and vertically through the top and bottom surfaces of the worktop.